EA buys Chillingo – confirmed

As was rumoured just this morning, EA has confirmed that it has moved to acquire successful iPhone publisher Chillingo.

Reuters claims that the deal is worth around $20m, a figure no doubt lower than many would have expected owing to the fact that recent acquisitions in the space have typically been worth far more.

Examples include Disney’s swoop for Playdom ($763), DeNA’s buyout of Ngmoco ($400m) and EA’s buyout of Playfish ($250m+).

However, speaking on Twitter GameBrief analyst Nicholas Lovell stated that a deal worth "a fraction of the value of Ngmoco’s makes sense".

"By acquiring Chillingo, EA Mobile is increasing its market leadership on the Apple Platform as well as reaffirming its position as the world’s leading wireless entertainment publisher," EA’s Holly Rockwood sad of the deal.